Chapter 109: Chapter 109

It was over.

That word kept repeating itself endlessly inside Madison’s head as she laid motionless on the sandy ground, Damien’s still form on top of her, and the feeling of blood gushing too.

Her dress was getting wet, and as she blinked twice, trying to note what had just happened, she tried to move a bit, and the second she did that, Damien fell to the side, his arms outstretched and his eyes closed tight.

“No… no…” Madison began to panic, wiggling her tied body, her eyes going to her legs as she searched for any sign of injury or bullet wound on herself, but she saw nothing.

“No…” She mumbled to herself, her eyes straying away from her body to the one beside it, and that’s when she saw her worst nightmare in front of her.

Damien’s bloodied body laid on the ground, his mouth slacking open, and he wasn’t making a move at all.

Blood gushed from the side of his chest, and Madison tried to scramble to her feet, wanting to get to him, but she couldn’t.

She was still tied, and the rope was so strong that no matter how hard she pulled and tugged at it, it didn’t loose.

“Damien… oh no!” She yelled, tears streaming down her face as she came to the avid realization of what had just happened.

He had saved her. Damien had come to save her, and when Katherine had pulled the trigger, he’d ran towards her and taken the bullet.

He’d done this for her and…

“Madison? Madison?” She heard someone calling her name, and as she tried to turn, she could hear some footsteps approaching her from behind.

Her eyes roamed the sandy beach as the cool breeze whipped heavily this time. She could hear shouts and gunshots from behind her, and her fear increased.

The police officers must have opened fire. Where was Katherine? What about her men? What about…

“Oh, Maddie…” The familiar voice from earlier called out again, and this time Madison could feel him from behind.

It was Mason, and her eyes widened in shock as she began to wonder what he was doing here.

She’d spotted Damien, his guards, and the police officers when they arrived, but she hadn’t seen him.

What was he doing here? What was happening? She asked herself, and then she said out loud, “You? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you going over there to help the bleeding body? Why are you….”

“Madison, be still okay. I’m trying to untie you.” He mumbled breathlessly, his hands working sharply as he tried to loosen the rope knots on her.

“Go save Damien instead. I know you don’t like him, but he’s bleeding. He’s dying, just….”

“Some men are coming to attend to him. He’ll be fine. Just stay still and….” He was still talking when she felt the knots loosen, and her hands became free.

Without even saying a word in acknowledgment to her brother, Madison crawled towards Damien as fast as her injured foot would allow.

“No, no, Damien. Please open your eyes and look at me.” She blurted out, kneeling beside him and putting her hand gently by the side of his neck, wanting to check if he was still alive.

He wasn’t. She couldn’t get a pulse at all, and she placed both hands on his chest, trying to stop the blood from gushing out more.

“No… Damien, please wake up. You have to; look at me.”

Her heart breaking and stomach churning as her eyes watered, she began to whimper loudly, shaking his body furiously, “This isn’t how it was supposed to be. You can’t leave me just like this… I… I…” She stammered, pausing to catch her breath and plastering a smile. She continued, “This must all be some dream, okay, and you’re fine. Just wake up. I know you’re just joking with me, like the ones you made back when we… Damien wake up okay. I promise you that I won’t try to run anymore. I’ve forgiven you and….”

“Madison, you have to let go of him. Stop shaking him. Help is coming….” Mason chimed in, his hands around her shoulders, and Madison knew he wanted to drag her away from Damien’s limp body, but she wasn’t letting go at all.

“Madison, please…”

“Ma’am, please. You have to leave him alone and allow us have him.” Another unfamiliar voice this time said to Madison, and just like in the movies, she saw different men surrounding her as they tried to take Damien from her.

“No! No… I’m not letting him go. He needs me. Damien is not dead, and he needs me. I…”

“Yes, he isn’t dead, and he definitely needs you, but he also needs treatment, and we have to help him as fast as we can before he gives up the ghost.”

“No! No, don’t say that word.” Madison thundered, her eyes seeing red, and the last strength in her was fleeing away.

“Ma’am, you have to leave him. We are sorry.” Someone said to her, and before she knew what was happening, she felt Mason drag her roughly from behind and her frail arms disentangled from Damien’s body.

“Noooo! No, Mason, leave me alone. Drop me down. I have to go with them.”

“Madison, come with me.” Her brother ordered, throwing her over his shoulders, and even as she hit his back furiously, he began to take her away, not budging or shaking at all.

“Mason, please… Don’t. Where are they taking him to? What is going to happen to him? Are you working for Katherine too? Is this your plan all along?”

“He’s being taken to the hospital, Maddie, and we are going there too. To be with him, and also to get some treatment for you. I’m not working with Katherine, damnit, I came here with Damien. It’s a long story, but you must calm down and be still.”

“I should calm down!” She spat out, still hitting his back as she continued, “When Damien was just shot, I should be calm? He saved my life! Where is that woman, Katherine or whatever she calls herself? Where are her men, the ones that kidn….”

She was cut off from her speech the second she felt her whole body thrown into a car, and the door slammed shut.

“Mason! Mason, get me out of here!” She began to scream, her hands hitting the window and playing with the car locks but her efforts were useless.

She was trapped once again, and it was not until the car’s ignition started moving, then did she give up.

Slumping in the car seat, regretful tears continued to stream down Madison’s cheeks in torrents.

…….

KATHERINE

‘How could he have taken the bullet for that bitch?’

‘Why did he have to get in the way?’

‘What the hell had Damien just done?’

‘Was this the end for him? For them?’

These questions and much more ran through Katherine’s head as she felt herself being overpowered by two hefty men.

The gun in her trembling hands fell to the floor, and staggering back; she stared straight at the bloodied, passed-out body which was just inches far away from where she stood.

The events of the past few minutes flashing through her head, Katherine closed her eyes as tremors racked through her whole body.

How had she been so stupid? Why did she pull the trigger? She could have waited a bit, or she could have just given up… No! She never gave up.

As she even had the thought, she felt angered all of a sudden, and as the police officers started to drag her towards wherever she began to scream as if coming back to her senses.

“Leave me alone! Leave me the fuck alone!”

“You are to remain silent, miss, and let us guide you safely to the car.”

“I said leave me, you bastards. There’s no way I’m going to the station with you lots. My men will come after you. My father will come after you. You have no right to try and forcefully drag me or….” Katherine paused, her eyes darkening when she felt the cool slap of a handcuff on her wrists, and this time her wailing increased.

“Leave me the fuck alone! I’m going to sue you. I’m going to….”

“Whatever you say here, ma’am will be used against you in the court of law. So you have to remain silent and be calm.”

“How do you expect me to be calm? I can’t be calm. I…” Katherine stuttered, her eyes roaming about as she tried to search for the members of her gang.

She could see dead bodies littered on the sandy ground and some officers dragging away some accomplices, and her eyes blinking; Katherine knew it was time to give up already.

She’d been caught. She’d shot someone who might even be dead now, and it was all over.

She had lost, and finally, she stopped fighting the officers, her shoulders dropping as she accepted her ridiculous fate.

Besides, her whole body and head ached painfully, and she wanted the heavy internal pounding to stop.

Her yelling turned into sobs, and her sobs turned into soft whimpers as everything came crashing around her.

She heard the siren of the police car they were taking her to blasting loudly, and squinting her brows, she bit her cheeks until she could taste blood.

Soon, the officers got to the car, and as they shoved her in it and banged the door closed, Katherine continued to look out the window, her hands starting to knock on the door as she sought a way out.

She had no idea where the strength to fight again was coming from, but she continued to hit the car, even after the Jeep’s ignition started, and the vehicle speedily drove away.

“No!…” She could only scream internally as she fought with the handcuffs clasped on her wrist.

It was over. She’d lost.